Dénouement
by Sweedledome
Summary: A chance encounter is all it takes. Bechloe.
1. A Park Bench

_**So I started writing this some time in August and I've been steadily adding to it and changing it and forgetting about it and remembering about it and quietly working on it in the background. I figured it was time I finally uploaded it. I know I've got other stories do but I've been having difficulty writing at the moment. I'm hoping one working on one where I've already done most of the work will help me get back into the swing of things.**_

* * *

><p><span>A Park Bench<span>

_Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. – Ann Landers_

Beca growls in frustration and kicks viciously at the grass beneath her feet with every step towards her favorite park bench. She loves music. She really does. It's the people she has issue with. Music is her life blood, pulsing through her veins and bringing her vitality with every beat (it's the reason behind the name of her label) but some artists contrive to suck the very essence out of her until she is an empty shell of a person.

Their completely unnecessary whining, the unearned diva attitude, that spoilt entitlement they feel to do things _their_ way without any sign of forethought or consideration for others. They're basically giant children. Beca dislikes children and adults who still act like they're five years old are even worse. They should know better which makes Beca want to scream every time they have a little temper tantrum when things don't go their way (Beca realizes the irony of her dramatically swanning out of the building in a huff about having to deal with that imbecile but she's pissed and doesn't care).

Unfortunately, wrapped in her mutinous mutterings of discontent as she anger walks rapidly to the bench, Beca has failed to notice one very significant detail. It seems fate is in a joking mood today because there is a child on said bench. On her bench. There is a child hugging his knees on her spot of tranquility and soul restoration. She's literally just stormed out the studio to escape from a cocky little man child who is probably currently on the phone to his manager who will promise to make it all better and punish the scary lady who dared to contradict him. Ugh.

Beca's annoyance has not resolved the situation at all. In any other circumstance she'd turn on her heel and run at the sight of a young boy (Beca reckons about five) with the messy brown hair…but she really _really_ needs to chill out for a bit and this bench seems to have magical Beca de-stressing properties.

She blinks at the boy on the bench.

He blinks too.

Beca blinks again, hoping something will miraculously change.

"Hello." Okay…the child is speaking now.

"You're on my bench." Beca says the first thing that comes to mind. It seems she is stuck on this detail.

"Share?" The boy enquires, big blue eyes so full of hope that even Beca can't deny them. What is she doing? She doesn't _like_ children. She sits down though, cautiously, like she's approaching a wild animal. In her mind, she is. Beca is startled by the kid shuffling like lightning over from across the bench and snuggling into her lap. She's so shocked she just stares for a moment, hands awkwardly held out the side to avoid touching him.

"Um...what are you doing?" The boy clutches at the soft material of Beca's hoody and wiggles his head further into Beca. She faintly hears a muffled 'I lost my mommy'.

…oh.

…dammit.

Now she's the adult. The adult responsible for this kid.

Fuck.

Cursory glance around the park. No one else in sight.

Double fuck.

Now what?

There's a sniffle from the boy and Beca considers the idea that some sort of comfort or reassurance may be needed. She brings her arms in from where they have been spread wide, scared of touching the child now in her lap, and pats lightly at the boy's back.

"Um…there there." There's another sniffle and Beca curses her inability to communicate with the little people. Or to comfort crying people. This is both which means she's well and truly out of her depth here. Fuck. Think Beca, think. What did her own mom do? Beca is reasonably attached to the woman after all so she must have done something right. Of course, music.

After a brief pause where Beca wonders how on earth she's supposed to cope with this, she begins humming. There are no words but Beca has a few memories of her younger self being coaxed into a sleepy happiness by this particular sequence of notes. It has the desired effect and mystery child's sniffles slowly fade as Beca lets the last note echo out of existence.

"You have a pretty voice. My mommy has a pretty voice too." His words are quiet and Beca is confused by the almost adult way in which he speaks. She is firmly of the impression that children make loud irritating, nonsensical noises and scream rather than telling you what they want. This kid seems pretty articulate in comparison to past children Beca has encountered. Heck, he seems articulate compared to the "artist" she was arguing with not that long ago.

There is no masking that blur to the edge of his voice though, that slight lisp children still have when they're still mastering the art of proper speech. Words not completely formed come from him again. "I like these." His eyes focus on the headphones slung around Beca's neck. Tiny hands reach up to grip them lightly.

Now Beca is no child expert, but she's reasonably sure you aren't supposed to yell at children, not if they aren't your own and _definitely_ if it's a lost child you just found in the park. That being said, her usual method of dealing with someone touching her headphones is out the window. She allows him to fiddle with them purely out of a complete inability to figure out how to stop him. He's gentle though, he doesn't damage them and Beca's surreptitious glance to check for traces of any smeared sticky substance that children seem to permanently carry on their hands reveals nothing. Her headphones are fine.

Beca looks at him amused and curious by the fact that he's not irritating the hell out of her. This is definitely not the norm when she encounters children. He looks back, waiting for her to say something and Beca awkwardly begins talking about the weather as a nice safe area of conversation. As they converse, Beca notes that he's not overly chatty like most children his age.

He seems to not understand personal space or stranger danger (even now he's playing with the toggles of Beca's hoody likes she's not someone he met ten minutes ago) but he's shy with his words. He looks to Beca for reassurance on everything he says. He speaks slowly and in short sentences, like each one is effort. Beca's extremely surprised to hear a certain degree of fondness in her voice growing in her voice which only multiplies when he poses a question that Beca can easily respond to.

"Do you like music?"

"I love music." The boy nods approvingly. Beca supposes he's not all that bad. She could get along with this little weirdo.

"Music is easy. Words are…words are hard."

"Yeah. I get that."

"Can I listen?" He taps at Beca's headphones. Beca hesitates, but then agrees, understanding the need for the reassurance music provides. Slipping the headphones over his ears and making sure the volume isn't too high. She plays him a mix she knows is child friendly and feels oddly touched at the way his face lights up as the opening chords begin.

Used to being surrounded by a false veneer of praise with subtle undertones of criticism, it is refreshing to know that someone is truly appreciating her work. There is no masking the undulated joy on the kid's face. It's nice. They sit like that for a while, Beca letting him listen to mixes until he pats at the headphones for Beca to take them off. "I like that. Who made that?"

"I did."

"Can we be friends?"

"Um. Sure. Why not?" Beca's unsure why this kid wants her as a friend but he reaches for her hand and shakes it formally, like this is something he's been taught how to do but not quite got the hang of making it sound natural yet.

"Hello. I am Teddy. It is nice to meet you."

"Hi Teddy, I'm Beca."

"Hi Beca." Teddy smiles at Beca then. It's the first full smile she's seen from him. His face goes scrunchy with the force of the smile. It's kinda cute. It transforms into a face of terror as a shriek comes from nearby.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU CHILD NAPPING PERVERT!" Beca jumps about a foot in the air and Teddy clings to her at the sight of a blonde haired woman running towards them. "YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE A CHILD YOU EAR MONSTROSITY WEARING DELIQUENT!" Beca sets Teddy down on the ground and turns to the newcomer, palms raised in a gesture of peace.

"Whoa! Calm down! I didn't take him I swear. I found him on this bench okay? I'm not a kidnapper." Wow, this kid's mom is terrifying. Beca's leg feels heavy all off a sudden and she looks down to discover she now has a Teddy attached to it. This does not seem to go down well with Blondie who glares at Beca angrily but then her face softens as she looks to Teddy. She still looks a bit panicked and is obviously trying to remain calm but there's no hiding the urgency in her voice as she speaks to him.

"Sweetie, come here. Come away from the nasty lady." This woman looks absolutely nothing like the boy now clinging to her leg and Beca is suspicious. She now finds herself very concerned with making sure this child is safe. Wow, she actually feels protective. That's…new.

"How do I know you're really his mom?"

"I'm not, I'm his godmother you garbage filled dirtball!" Blondie spits viciously towards Beca. Once again her face does a 180 to address Teddy. "Come on now Teddy, come to Auntie Bree." She motions frantically with her hands but when Teddy pulls his face from Beca's leg, it's to speak, not to obey.

"She's not nasty. Or garbage." Beca feels her heart swell somewhat at Teddy's immediate refuting of this woman's assumptions. He's defending her.

"Edwin James Beale, you come here this instant. Your mother is worried sick about you." Blondie (or Auntie Bree…whatever) is losing patience.

"But Auntie Bree, Beca is my friend. We talked." This gives Blondie pause.

"You…you spoke to her?" Teddy nods. Blondie relaxes and Beca can see she's not so concerned with the situation.

"Does that…change things?" Beca asks, Blondie's way too calm all of a sudden.

"He doesn't speak to anyone he doesn't want to. If you talked, it's because he approached you." Blondie begrudgingly admits. Jeez, it's almost like she wants Beca to be the villain here.

"Oh...okay." Beca nods, a part of her warms at the idea that Teddy chose her. Thought she was worth talking to. This little guy has done more to endear himself to Beca in half an hour than most people do in a lifetime.

"She's nice Auntie Bree. She helped me." Teddy is insistent. Beca is a lot more open to the idea of letting Blondie have him seeing as she's no longer giving off crazy vibes and Teddy has acknowledged her as someone he knows.

"Okay sweetie, I believe you. I need you to come here though." Teddy looks up towards Beca for confirmation. Beca give her leg a little nudge.

"Go on little man." Teddy releases her and is swept straight into Blondie's arms as soon as he's within sweeping distance. He waves from her arms and Beca gives a little wave back.

"Bye Beca."

"You look like a vandal." Blondie sniffs huffily before wandering off.

* * *

><p>"Alright and that's a wrap." There's a strong sense of satisfaction hearing the replying chorus of cheers from her production team and seeing the grateful smile from her latest client. Beca's a little reluctant to see this one go. She's a bit raw still but she's got promise and, more than anything else, she willingly listens. She's <em>got<em> to learn to stop groping herself left, right and center as she sings…but she is a hard worker and she is actually agreeable company.

Beca's barely had the opportunity to leave the studio over the past week because all of the overtime her production team has put into this. It's funny how, in the rare event that someone likeable enters the studio, the entire team pulls together into a flawlessly working unit. Well, they had done once they stopped falling over themselves to try and get a date with the leggy brunette (Beca initially assumed they'd seen the light and decided to get on with their jobs. Stacie assures her it's probably because she slept with most of them…oh well, whatever works).

Despite her everlasting love of music and the gratification that comes with wrapping a project, Beca can hear joints popping as she stretches muscles that haven't been stretched in days. She feels an urge to get out of the studio and remember what sunlight feels like. Walking to the nearby park, Beca can almost feel her bench calling her. It doesn't take long before she sees her own little bit of heaven.

Except there's someone sitting on it.

Damn.

Beca sighs in the knowledge that she's either going to wait until this red head leaves or give up on her bench endeavor. There's no way she's going over there. Social anxiety coupled with a complete lack of verbal skills when in the presence of a gorgeous woman means going over there would be a bad idea. Then there's a shift and a small body peeks out from behind the red head, previously hidden from Beca's view. Beca's vaguely aware of how familiar that face is before there's a bullet like blur zooming across the grass towards her. She lets out an 'ooph' as the object collides with her and she looks down to see a smiling Teddy on her leg once more.

"Beca." He smiles up at her.

"Teddy." Beca smiles and pats his head. She feels proud of how far her maternal instincts have developed. The notion of voluntarily touching a child was previously unchartered territory for her. Beca is happier than she would have thought to see him again. Him attaching himself to her leg does not surprise her, she's got him clocked as someone who has yet to learn boundaries. Another, considerably more adult person arriving to cling onto Beca herself is, she evidently hasn't learnt boundaries yet either. Beca is still in shock at all this unexpected human contact as the red head releases her from a hug and goes down to scoop up Teddy.

"We were starting to think you weren't coming back, isn't that right Teddy?" She smiles and Beca nearly melts. God she's pretty. "Oh where are my manners? I'm Chloe, Chloe Beale. I'm responsible for this little munchikin." The red head…Chloe says, giving Teddy a little jiggle. Beca can see the clear adoration in the kid's eyes as he giggles at his mother and burrows into her, obviously there's a strong bond there.

"Beca Mitchell."

"I wanted to say…wait, did you say Beca Mitchell? As in Beca Mitchell of Pulse Records?" Beca nods, moderately surprised by Chloe's recognition. She's beginning to make a pretty solid grounding in the music industry for herself but she's not exactly a household name yet and her aversion to the public eye means people aren't generally aware of who she is until she mentions a specific track she's worked on. "Oh my god, you're amazing. I love your remix of Titanium. That song is my…" Chloe's voice fades, eyes flick towards Teddy who is staring wide eyed at her and she blushes. "…I mean, it's a really good song." Beca wonders what she might have been about to say but Chloe is already sunnily beaming at her again.

"Thank you." Beca chuckles at the sight of Teddy enthusiastically nodding in agreement with his mom. His mom, Beca now notices, who looks incredibly young for motherhood. She can't be much older than Beca herself.

"Anyway, we wanted to say thank you for the other day. Didn't we Teddy?" Teddy nods again and Beca fears he may do himself neck damage with all this exuberant nodding. "It's not often Teddy makes a new friend so we've come here every day hoping to run into you and invite you to come to lunch sometime or something? As a thank you for taking care of him. I mean…if you're not too busy that is?"

Ah, a nice exit. Beca can politely decline for work reasons and be done with her brief foray into the world of knowing children. She opens her mouth to turn them down and…

"No, just finished a project so I'm not busy. I'd love to." Okay, what the hell? Where did that come from? There's no backing out now. Not with the way Teddy and Chloe are now smiling at her like she's some sort of superhero.

Beca is in a daze as they arrange a date and Chloe gives Beca her address. Teddy, who has been returned to the ground at this point so Chloe can write on Beca's hand, plays quietly with Beca's shoelaces in a way Beca wants to laugh at. His fascination with odd little aspects of life makes him a mystery that Beca can't help but be charmed by.


	2. A Lunch Date

A Lunch Date

Beca finally makes it back to her place and slumps straight onto her bed exhausted. She went to have lunch with the little man and Chloe at their house today. An early lunch too. She arrived at twelve with the express intention of leaving by two at the absolute latest. Checking her watch, she sees that it's nearing eleven o clock at night. How on earth did that happen? She'd spent the whole day there. While shocking, that's not the most shocking thing about it. She_ enjoyed _herself. She hadn't even noticed the time slipping past until they went to put Teddy to bed…together. Then Chloe had offered her a drink and, well, it would have been rude to decline really wouldn't it?

So Beca had stayed and wiled away a few hours with only the red head for company. It was all terribly domestic which is definitely a novelty for Beca. Her life is a convoluted mess of appointments and schedules with no one specific in a sea of different faces. She plays her music in trendy new clubs until the early hours of the morning and anybody she does meet is usually someone trying to roar their name over the noise of a club while she's doing her thing in the DJ's booth. Occasionally, if loneliness strikes, she'll take someone home with her but she ensures they're gone before breakfast the next morning.

Nope. There is absolutely nothing domestic about the way Beca lives her life. Is that why she got so much pleasure from today? Because she was basking in the novelty of the unfamiliar? A sensation that will surely pass as soon as something else comes along…right? Somehow Beca doubts it. She's never experienced this sense of…comfort before, this sense of being in a house that is a home rather than just a house and, being completely truthful with herself, she kind of likes it.

Even her own childhood cannot really be described as domestic in any sense. Her mom did her best but with one wage coming in and a child with a love of overly expensive musical equipment, there wasn't exactly a lot of time for mother-daughter interaction other than the half hour spent over their microwaved dinner of the evening. That doesn't mean for a second that Beca is any less grateful to her for the hours she spent slaving to fund Beca's passion, she continues to regard her mom in the same light as…as no one actually. Her mom is top of the pile. What is surprising is that Teddy has somehow found his way on to that pile now too…as has Chloe.

Chloe….now there is a potential problem. It turns out Chloe is not only ridiculously stunning, she makes Beca laugh, she's engaging conversation and she's emphatically kind hearted. Naturally, Beca can't get her mind off of her. Which is a problem. It's a problem because she has a kid and that's commitment and Beca doesn't do commitments. But then there's that other thing. Teddy's kind of awesome. Beca_ likes_ him, he doesn't say a whole lot but his face says a million words all at once and Beca can't help but find his subtle curiosity at the world around him amazing.

She played Dragons with him earlier while Chloe was cooking dinner (once it had transpired Beca wasn't going anywhere). A game of his invention, simple in concept, whereby you run around pretending to be a dragon. Beca had been skeptical about the level of enthusiasm she would be able to muster up for this game but when Chloe came to call them through, she'd found the two eagerly attacking a cushion fort they had constructed around the sofa.

He seems to call out an undiscovered part of Beca that is less concerned with inhibitions than she ever recalls being. It's very…freeing to feel completely unjudged by other human beings. It's true Beca did blush bright red in a fleeting moment of embarrassment when Chloe caught her mid roar…but Chloe merely giggled and responded with roar of her own. A roar Beca in no way found frustratingly cute.

Nope. No way. Not at all.

(Okay, maybe it was a little cute).

There was no feeling of obligation or commitment to be there at any point. Beca stayed because she _wanted_ to. Beca exhales deeply as she realizes she is completely and utterly fucking screwed.

* * *

><p>Beca tries not to smile the next time she's over (of course she came back) and she's seated on the sofa with Chloe once more while Teddy happily snoozes upstairs. She really does. This is not something she should find good news. She has no interest in Chloe right? They're friends right? Bullshit. Because Beca can't stop that extra little beat in her heart when Chloe assures her there is no father in the picture, not since he threw money at her for an abortion when she was eighteen before promptly running off to Greece with a wannabe glamour model.<p>

It's a tragic story and Beca can hear the pain in her voice when Chloe briefly recaps the rough time she had trying to support herself and Teddy. Beca can't help but feel a newfound sense of kinship with Teddy as the product of an abandoning father. There's also the admiration she has for Chloe at how she's managed to cope with life thus far, at least her own father had stuck around to help until Beca reached ten and he decided he was bored of playing daddy, Chloe did it all on her own right from the very beginning. Simultaneously raising Teddy, bringing in a wage _and _steadily getting the qualifications necessary to teach, Chloe hadn't once let life tell her what to do.

She had relentlessly battled on to get what she wanted and, this very evening, she'd passionately relayed to Beca the delight she found in forming a real connection with her students on her first teaching job. The zest she demonstrates for life enraptures Beca in an intrigued awe. It sets her brain whirring, makes her want to run straight to the nearest mixing board and translate that infinite enthusiasm into a beautiful score that will complement the verve in Chloe's eyes. It is not a feeling she should encourage unless she wants to do something really stupid that could jeopardize this budding friendship with Chloe. It's one that should be quashed down and repressed until she forgets it's even there anymore.

There's still a hopeful little swell in her chest though. One she previously beat down with reassurances that, just because she hadn't seen a significant other or any pictures of a significant other, it didn't mean there wasn't one. Chloe mentions her singleness a couple of times and ideas start to form in Beca's head but she's fully aware of just how much of a flight risk she is. Chloe and Teddy are in a whole other league of human being and they deserve a lot more that what Beca can offer.

Beca can't find it in herself to refuse their invites to come over though. She's now there at least twice a week. So she likes being around two incredible people? Sue her. At first the visits are guest like in nature, which is perfectly normal. She's made a couple of new friends, that's no big deal right? But then things take on a more…permanent sort of feel and Beca doesn't think she's just a guest anymore.

It begins one day when Beca is waiting for Teddy to get his shoes on so they can go to the park and she has a little twiddle on the dusty looking piano in the spare room. It's no particular pattern other than the notes floating through Beca's head but Teddy is at Beca's side in an instant, mouth open in wonder at the movement of her hands. She should be telling him to go finish putting his shoes on but…he looks happy. Beca likes it when Teddy is happy.

Chloe comes through too and the two of them sit and watch as Beca moves onto more complex material. They don't go to the park that day. Chloe and Teddy seem to want to watch Beca do her thing instead. The next time she's over, Teddy requests to hear her play before he goes to bed. Beca complies and it's not long before it's custom for Chloe and Teddy to curl up on the stool next to Beca and listen to her play.

Beca is astonished when she's absent mindedly toying through a simple scale a short while later and Teddy does something amazing. It's something she plays whenever her thoughts drift, nothing fancy, just something for her hands to do. Teddy hauls himself up on to the stool beside her and copies the pattern haltingly, but accurately. She does another few notes, Teddy repeats them. And that's how Beca begins teaching Teddy piano.

He's an avid student, he's been watching Beca closely every time she plays and it shows in his ability to pick up what Beca is doing. Chloe watches them sometimes, a smile on her face that makes Beca feel warm inside. Heck, the whole thing makes her feel warm inside, it's perhaps worrying that that warmth doesn't diminish with time.

That's how things become more permanent. She's not a guest any more, not even a friend who visits from time to time. She's Teddy's piano teacher. She's Chloe's confidante. She's someone they call to see if she wants to hang out just because. She's someone who their minds immediately leap to when thinking of inviting someone to do something. She's a part of their lives…and they are a part of hers. Beca's still not sure how this change happens but she likes it. She likes the sudden sense of commitment she feels to other individuals on the planet other than her mom.

She finds herself forming connections with people in a way she'd previously gone out of her way to avoid. Following the success of their single, Stacie is no longer just a client but a cherished friend. Beca muses the significance of this change within her from time to time but decides not to dwell on it too much. Her life seems…better for this adjustment in her outlook. Easier to deal with…people don't seem as difficult to put up with as they once were. Beca can even find a place in her heart for people like Blondie.

Inevitably her presence in the Beale household means she runs into Blondie again. Initially Aubrey continues to give her a mildly disapproving glare for the first half hour of their interaction (that might have something to do with Beca relentlessly calling her Auntie Bree Bree) and Beca gets the feeling there's no way she's ever going to get this girl's approval unless she gets a serious makeover and ditches the ear spike.

Much to Beca's surprise, however, Aubrey eases up a little once she sees Beca playing Sharks with Teddy (they've moved onto sharks now) and even joins in with the most rigid impersonation of a shark Beca has ever seen. Aubrey figures out after a few failed attempts that, perhaps, Sharks isn't really for her. Instead she entertains Beca and Teddy (who's curled up on Beca's lap on the floor by this point) with incredibly gruesome shark facts/pictures until an anxious Chloe overhears her topic of conversation and intervenes.

From there Aubrey and Beca become amicable in the wake of Chloe's 'what on earth have you been showing my child?!' wrath. They survived Chloe's anger together and that feels like an important bond.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks to the following for reviewing and to all those who have favouritedfollowed:**_

_**Guest**_

_**Dracossack (Dude, we've been over this. I don't know what this ego is that you speak of.)**_

_**Potatehoe**_

_**Reda V**_

_**Guest**_

_**Llvr**_

_**Shelby1316**_

_**Kinqslanding (You okay there buddy?)**_

_**Doccubushuh**_

_**Tennis8**_

_**Guest**_

_**Antisocialgod **_

_**Rennie Laroche**_

_**Guest**_

_**Normal-is-Overratedx (Thank you. It's a start.)**_

_**Guest**_

_**50 Shades of Pitch Perfect**_

_**Guest**_


	3. A Birthday Party

_**Okay, so a couple of people have mentioned something about doing a bit from Chloe's POV. Like I said, this story is almost fully written already and I'm just editing as I go so Chloe's POV won't appear in this story. If it's wanted though, I will happily write a companion piece from Chloe's perspective to go with this once the story is completed. Just let me know if you'd be interested in that. :)**_

* * *

><p><span>A Birthday Party<span>

It's just under a year later when Teddy is six and Beca stays the night for the first time. Through no small amount of effort on her part, she's carefully eased her way out of it every time the suggestion has arisen with deftly crafted excuses because she really doesn't trust her self-control at all in those circumstances. She is completely 100% fully enamored with Chloe at this point and staying the night can lead nowhere good…but then it's Teddy's birthday and Beca gets an invite.

No, not just an invite. Chloe informs Beca that her presence has been especially requested by Teddy as a person of importance. If at any other point in her life you had asked Beca if she wanted to attend a young child's birthday party, including her own childhood, you would have been met with a scathing look and a firm 'no'.

The Beale family hold unnatural sway over Beca though. Which is why she agrees to put in an appearance. She turns up early for breakfast at their bequest with a cuddly shark toy (Teddy's become obsessed ever since Aubrey's little science lesson and is constantly attempting to watch grisly documentaries on the creatures when Chloe's not looking, much to Chloe's dismay) which Teddy then refuses to put down all day.

It makes Beca laugh when Chloe tries to prise it off him so he won't get anything on it during breakfast but Teddy is adamant that he will not be parted from Sharky (Beca has long since learnt by this point that naming things is not Teddy's forte). She thinks this day could be hell but it's off to a good start so far if the pleasant bubble in her chest is anything to go by. Besides, she figures that she likes the little man, enough to turn up to his birthday party at any rate. Maybe she's finally reached the point in her life where kids aren't messy little whiners to be avoided at any and all costs? Maybe she could get on with kids?

No, as it turns out. A most emphatic no. Three hours into screaming, running, hyperactive little fuzzballs smearing sticky cake everywhere and Beca has concluded that Teddy is most definitely the one exception to her ire. Chloe though…Chloe is a force of nature. She sweeps in and organizes the unorganizable. Herds the kids through a series of party games that keeps them from going too crazy and placates them with perfectly timed distractions whenever a potential problem arises.

All day Beca can hear the hushed whispers from other parents marveling at her ability to cope. Beca has to marvel too. She's always marveled at Chloe but the marveling seems to be reaching epic proportions these days and she really needs to reign that back in for the sake of their friendship. It's not long before she's broken out of her reverie by, ugh, someone attempting human interaction.

"I was going to ask if you'd consider going to get a coffee with me sometime but I'm thinking that's kind of a futile pursuit." Beca jumps at the tall brown haired man who's appeared beside her. She's seen him several times when she's gone with Chloe to pick up Teddy from school but never properly spoken to 's got a kind hearted smile and a twinkle in his eye but Beca has to agree with his assessment. She's considering a list of carefully barbed witty retorts that'll send this guy packing but then he's brandishing a juice pouch in Beca's direction and dammit if Beca doesn't love a juice pouch. "So when are you going to ask her out?"

"Dude, what are you on about?" Beca splutters, snorting juice and failing at controlling the blush from spreading over her face. She hopes she can pass it off as a result of choking on the fluid given to her. No such luck.

"Oh come on. I'm a romantic at heart and the look you were giving Chloe just now almost made me want to throw up with how mushy it was."

"You're such a weirdo." Beca tries to sound bored as she nonchalantly takes a sip of her juice. Nonchalant doesn't go well for her, Mr Weirdo says something that causes her to choke again and this time she can't stop the juice from spraying everywhere. (Chloe dashes past, cleans the area with a wet wipe and is gone to stop a child whacking another one over the head with a toy before Beca can even blink).

"Oh I am so going to be your fairy godmother." Beca has to question that once she recovers.

"You what?"

"You know, the one that helps you on your merry journey into Chloe's heart. Not that I don't think you're already there, I've just got to make you see that." He's grinning inanely at her and Beca wonders what kind of grown man willingly brands himself 'fairy godmother' without a hint of irony.

He introduces himself as Jesse and the name leads her to recall Chloe mentioning him a few times as a fellow member of a single parent support group she's part of. He annoyingly insists on calling her Becaw but he's kind of funny and, despite his insistence that movies are the greatest thing ever, he's pretty good company. The blonde haired four year old who waddles into Jesse's arms isn't too bad either.

Turns out little Nora Swanson is Teddy's best friend. She's not got the same pull over Beca that Teddy has but Beca doesn't find her abhorrent which, for a kid, is pretty high praise from Beca. Tuning in on her new found ability to deal with people, Beca allows herself to enjoy some of the lame jokes Jesse makes and even concedes to a game of Sharks with the three of them.

Of course, she inevitably puts her foot in her mouth while she and Jesse are watching Teddy and Nora draw pictures together (no doubt Teddy will present Beca with yet another picture of a shark to stick on her fridge when he's done). In the silence, Beca notices that Jesse still has a smart silver wedding band adorning his left ring finger. Naturally, her brain fires out the most inappropriate question it can think of before Beca has time to process what she's saying.

"Why do you still wear a wedding ring if you're single?" As soon as she blurts it out, Beca regrets it. For the first time, Beca sees that wide smile on Jesse's face lessen slightly and unhappy lines appear around his eyes. "Oh my god, I am so sorry. I don't know where that came from." Beca apologizes hurriedly.

"No, it's okay." Jesse sighs sadly as he looks at Nora.

"Really, you don't have to answer that." When he turns to Beca, he looks a lot older that he did five minutes ago.

"I don't mind. I don't talk about it a whole lot and I know there are a few rumors floating around the other parents about her running off with a circus troop or something ridiculous like that. It's actually kind of nice to have someone interested in the truth instead of listening to gossip."

"Well I'm not exactly buddy buddy with the other parents anyhow. I tried but they're all busy talking about how Sarah's brand new polka dot cake tin isn't nearly as cute as Janine's brand new polka dot cake tin." Beca shudders in horror which produces a wry smile from Jesse. Even though she's never been particularly good at reading people, Beca out of the blue understands that maybe this is something Jesse needs to talk about for a moment. She gives him an encouraging nod to let him know he can continue. Jesse shoots her a grateful smile and Beca wonders if this could be the start of another true friendship.

"I was with this girl. I got her pregnant when we were both still pretty young and we thought getting married was the logical thing to do, so we did. Pretty much everyone told us it wouldn't last, that we were too young to make that commitment. We didn't really care. We were determined to raise our little girl together. We worked everything out, planned our entire lives together, right down to what we would name our dog."

"What happened?"

"Life." Jesse snorts a little bitterly. "It doesn't always take note of the plans we make. There were some… complications, uh, with the birth. The doctors were pretty certain I'd lose both of them but Nora clung on in there. She's my little miracle. My wife wasn't so lucky."

"Oh god Jesse, I'm so sorry."

"Why? It's not your fault." Jesse shrugs. Beca levels a look at him and he sighs before growing somber once again. "I try not to think about it too much, hurts. I can't even say her name any more and any time I go to take the ring off, it just feels wrong." He looks at the ring and twirls it round his finger a couple of times before speaking quietly, dejectedly. "Make fun of my movie obsession all you want but sometimes I need the cliché happy ending. I need to see two people meet and fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together without anything ruining it. I need that predictability."

They fall into silence after that. Beca doesn't know what to say. What can she say? It feels like a very intimate thing to know about someone she just met but the melancholy begins to fade when she examines how Jesse looks at his daughter. There's a love in that look that is beyond compare and it restores the glint of life to Jesse's eye when Nora runs up to him brandishing a scribbly drawing of her flying a plane.

Beca then spends most of the party gravitating around Teddy, Nora and Jesse while Chloe runs damage control. Eventually things wind down until even Jesse and Nora wave their last goodbye. As they get ready to depart, Jesse pulls her into an unexpected hug and she feels him whisper in her ear.

"I don't regret it you know."

"Huh?"

"We made the decision to keep Nora together. It was a huge risk to take on the responsibility to her and to each other so early on in life. It definitely didn't pan out how either of us wanted…but I still don't regret any of it. Not for one second." Jesse pulls back to look over at Chloe who is gleefully blowing raspberries on Nora's stomach while Teddy giggles. Beca gets what he's hinting at straight away. "Don't let fear hold you back."

Beca nods solemnly and contemplates Jesse's words as he picks Nora up to leave. It's not until Chloe asks her what's wrong that she even realizes she's been spacing out. Beca quickly reassures Chloe that everything is fine until Chloe gathers Teddy in her arms and they head upstairs to wish the birthday boy a good night.

Chloe puts a happily burbling Teddy to bed with his favorite story (Beca helpfully provides the animal noises) and immediately sets about clearing up the bombsite that was once her house. The two of them work silently together, slowly returning the house to a state of normality until you'd never know the place had been invaded by a rampaging horde of children.

Once they're done, Beca sees the exhaustion take over Chloe. It takes some doing but Beca manages to steer a suddenly extremely floppy Chloe into her bedroom and lay her down to rest. As she's doing so, a yawn escapes from her. She hadn't grasped just how much the day has taken a toll on her. Chloe catches Beca's sleepy, blinking demeanor and the next thing Beca knows, Chloe is fisting her hands into Beca's shirt and is dragging Beca down onto the bed next to her. Beca opens her mouth to protest but Chloe places a finger on her lips.

"Shhh. Sleep time now." Chloe mumbles, already half off in the land of dreams. With a warm Chloe draped across her and the events of the day catching up, Beca is out of energy to fight it. It's not long before she follows Chloe in to a blissful slumber.

It should have been a one off thing. One night where Beca crashes after a tiring day…but the next time she's over, Chloe says she's had too much to drink even though she's only had one glass of wine and has walked home far more inebriated than that before. She should just stay there for the night obviously. Beca gives in and loses herself in Chloe's warm embrace once more. The next time it's because Chloe says she's worried about burglars and she'd feel safer with Beca around. Chloe's never been worried about this before but Beca doesn't question it, just allows Chloe to take her by the hand into her bedroom.

There's something very…'not friends' about this image but Beca's not going there. Not when she's got a good thing going for herself here. She's not forgotten Jesse's words. They still ring through her head in the moments where she and Chloe get a little too close…but those moments always pass with Beca being unsure if she's relieved or disappointed that she's not spoken her mind. And so things continue until Beca has pajamas at Chloe's and it's more unusual for her to wake up in her own cold sheets than it is to wake up enveloped in the perfection that is Chloe.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks to the following for reviewing and to all those who have favouritedfollowed:**_

_**Bechloeismylife**_

_**Ballpointmf**_

_**Dracossack**_

_**Electronis Zappa**_

_**Kinqslanding**_

_**SMILE. Bee. Happpy**_

_**Guest**_

_**Guest**_

_**Reda V**_

_**Lynn**_

_**Llvr (That may have something to do with the fact that this was originally written to be a short one-shot but I kept going with it. There will be bits of dialogue here and there but, on the whole, this style of writing is continued throughout the story)**_

_**dullLogic**_

_**50 Shades Of Pitch Perfect**_

_**Potatehoe**_

_**Awriterofthings**_

_**Tashipoe**_

_**Sonny278**_

_**EdrickSnowhuh**_

_**Elizabeth. Mary. Stark (Sooo…is that a good hmmm or a bad hmmm?)**_

_**Lelylith**_

_**Disappointed-idealistt**_


	4. A Change Of Plans

A Change Of Plans

Teddy has been six for a couple of months when a completely normal, average day changes everything. The only difference between this day and all the others that week is that Beca is late.

Correction.

Beca is _very _late.

The incredibly well received collaborative track between herself and Stacie has gained some serious interest for the both of them from a few musical big-wigs. For Pulse Records it means a slew of new, popular artists for Beca to work with. For Stacie it could mean her own complete album and the opportunity to have a full scale music career instead of just being a one hit wonder. There's a very important meeting today regarding Stacie and the potential for this album to happen. It will, of course, be majorly beneficial to Stacie's career if this meeting goes well.

Stacie is pretty damn important to Beca these days and she feels she owes it to the brunette to ensure, to the best of her ability, that things run as smoothly as possible. The work speaks for itself so it shouldn't be too hard…if she impresses the executives. If she's not _late. _That's why she's dashing about the house with all the speed of a demented rabbit, mind still half asleep as she jams things into her bag.

Chloe helps her shrug into her jacket when Beca appears ready in the kitchen and Beca begins to think she may yet make it on time. She drops a kiss on Teddy's head, kisses Chloe goodbye and goes flying out of the door at the speed of light. Things are so hectic when she arrives that Beca has no time to think. It's only when she's sitting in the middle of the meeting that her brain catches up to everything she's done that morning. Oh god.

Oh _god._

"Something you want to say Becky?" Luke, co-founder of Pulse Records, is giving her warning eyes. His grin is too tense and his tone is screaming at her to sit the fuck back down because she just inexplicably stood up and yelled 'oh god' in the middle of his presentation. Stacie's eyes are beseeching her to rectify the situation so Beca mumbles out an apology and reseats herself.

Somehow, when it comes her turn to talk, she manages to give off an energetic, professional persona. She has absolutely no clue where the professional part comes from but she can put the energy down to pure adrenaline. She cannot concentrate properly at all with her mind going a mile a minute.

She _kissed _Chloe. Just leant right in and went for it without even thinking about it….okay, so she's thought about doing before. A lot actually. There's always that voice in her head firmly telling her not to act on it though. Where the fuck was that voice this morning? Oh god, oh god, oh god.

Time slows almost to a standstill and Beca is staring at each movement of the second hand with a nervous tension she can't rid herself of. She needs to go see Chloe and find out how bad this is.

She's supposed to be meeting Chloe at three to go see a movie. Teddy is at Jesse and Nora's until seven and the two had agreed…well Chloe had decided and Beca had thrown a strop about it until Chloe pleadingly used the puppy dog eyes against her, to go see a movie together to kill time. Beca has the sinking feeling that won't be happening unless she comes up with a good excuse though. Checking back with the clock once more, Beca can see it's still being entirely uncooperative. She swears she sees the second hand actually go back at one point.

Time goes slowly but Beca finally hears Luke make a conclusive lame joke that draws a smattering of laughs from the attendees. As soon as is reasonable and not considered rude, Beca is running back to Chloe's (she's positive this is more running than she's done in the past month) until she's stood outside staring at the door. For all the time wishing the clock to go faster, Beca can't actually bring herself to go in.

She's not certain how long she's standing there for but suddenly the door swings open and Chloe's there with an unreadable expression on her face. She turns on her heel and motions for Beca to follow her through to the kitchen. So then they're standing on opposite sides of the kitchen and the silence is unbearable. There's a thick tension in the air from the absence of noise that could be cut with a knife. Chloe's the one to break it, Beca's too busy panicking…not that Chloe begins with the greatest conversation starter.

"So…" her tone is leading, like she's waiting for Beca to say something, but Beca still has absolutely no clue what Chloe's feelings on this are though. Her face remains expressionless which is an abnormality because Chloe's face is simply bursting with emotion. It makes Beca nervous.

"So…we going to see this movie then?" Beca asks, praying to whatever deity may be listening that Chloe will let her brush this incident off.

"I don't want to go see a movie with you." The words that would normally cause her such happiness now produce a sinking feeling of despair in the pit of her stomach.

"No?" Beca questions weakly.

"No." Chloe replies. She knew it, she knew she'd fucked it up, knew she'd ruined an amazing thing and now Chloe was going to throw her out of house and out of her life and…oh. Chloe's not doing anything of the sort. Chloe's backed her into the counter and is kissing her.

_Oh._

"I think there's a much better way we can spend our time, don't you?" Chloe grins mischievously and Beca doesn't think she's ever seen anything so unbearably sexy as the look Chloe is giving her right now.

They reconnect with hands clutching at each other's clothing, mouths moving urgently together as they try to pull each other closer, even though there's already not an inch of space between them. Months of longing turn into sheer _want _as Beca allows herself to truly touch Chloe in the way she's wanted to ever since she first saw the other woman. She nearly dies when her hands slide up into the gap between Chloe's t-shirt and her jeans and feels that smooth expanse of skin for the first time.

With every brush of her hands against Chloe's heated body, there's a new nerve in her body that lights on fires and screams for more. She can feel her heart begin to palpitate, her pulse drumming out an approving series of beats when Chloe's hands tighten, her nails making themselves known in Beca's back. Blood begins to surge forcefully through her entire system like an unstoppable wave until even her toes are tingling with a delicious tension that demands satisfaction.

_Now. _

There's a moan, Beca's not sure who from (it could be both of them), as Chloe takes thorough advantage of Beca's open mouth and her hands begin tugging at the buttons on the front of Beca's shirt.

"Mmmph, Chloe, wait." Chloe doesn't seem overly fond of this suggestion and begins kissing a tantalising path down Beca's jaw to her neck that leaves Beca incoherent with pleasure. "Chlo we-ugghn-shouldn't we go on a-ahhh-date or something?" Chloe separates her mouth from where she's been sucking at Beca's pulse point to give a perfect demonstration of how limited the vocabulary can become when one's brain is preoccupied with certain thoughts.

"Sex now. Date later." Chloe positively growls out the words. Screw it. There's a heat in Beca that's almost primal and evidently Chloe feels it too because they don't even make it to the bedroom. They manage to stumble through to the hallway _outside _the bedroom, which Beca thinks is still pretty impressive all things considered, where they make highly creative use of the wall…and then the carpet…then they actually make it into the bedroom to make use of the bed too (and then maybe the chest of drawers).

It's around then that they finally manage to detangle themselves long enough to take note of the hour and realize that, if they move now, they've got time to leisurely get ready to go pick up Teddy. So Beca wanders (more stumbles really, her legs still haven't fully recovered yet) to the shower to clean up…but doesn't get very far with it before Chloe decides that showering is a group activity.

They get to Jesse's a few minutes late and stammer out excuses that contradict each other while Jesse gives them a knowing look which Beca is unable to dodge without her facial expression letting on as to the exact reason why they are late. Teddy doesn't seem to notice anything though, in spite of Beca's inability to stop blushing whenever she remembers just exactly how many times she (eagerly) violated his mother earlier that afternoon.

Later, when Teddy has been read a bed time story and it's just the two of them once more, Chloe gives Beca a kiss that is different to the ones from before. Those were urgent and filled with an immediate need. Beca supposes this one is filled with need too…a different kind of need though. A softer one that resonates deeper in Beca's soul. This one is slow and searching.

It speaks of home and completion.

It speaks of safety and contentment.

It speaks of love.

Beca says the words so quietly she's not 100% certain that she didn't just think them…but then Chloe breathes "I love you too" back and Beca feels like floating. The feeling in her chest is just that. Feeling. Words seem lacking somehow. They're dull and filled with an uninspiring paleness that doesn't quite cover what's going on in her system right now.

Even the three words that Beca used to see as holding far too much weight to ever be said to a non-family member, now aren't enough. They're used too regularly in life and this moment feels like it requires something more significant, something of a greater magnitude.

They're all she has though, so she repeats them again and again through the light kisses Chloe is giving her, trying to reach Chloe on a higher level with what she means. Looking into Chloe's eyes as they make love a final time, she knows she has succeeded. Beca falls asleep with the words on her lips and the emotion they convey in her heart.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thank you to the following for reviewing and to all those who have favouritefollowed:**_

_**Dracossack**_

_**Reda V**_

_**EdrickSnowhuh**_

_**Lelylith (Well, that's what I was aiming for :P)**_

_**DullLogic (sorry, but if I write a thing in Chloe's POV, it won't be for a little bit yet. I'm already trying to juggle too many bits of writing at the moment. Sorry again :/)**_

_**Llvr**_

_**Antisocialgod**_

_**Guest**_

_**Elizabeth. Mary. Stark (That's good, hopefully it'll continue to be an AU you can enjoy) **_

_**Lynn**_

_**Kinqslanding**_

_**50 Shades Of Pitch Perfect**_

_**Guest**_

_**Thalmor**_


	5. A Work Trip

A Work Trip

Teddy is a couple of months shy of seven when Beca moves in. Officially moves in at any rate. Since Beca only really uses her apartment as storage nowadays, she's not sure it really counts as moving in. There is a part of her, however, that thinks this is big. Yeah, she spends all her free time with Chloe and Teddy anyway but the relationship between Chloe and herself is still relatively new. Her apartment is her back up, her safety. She spends all her time at the house because she wants to, not because she _has _to.

Beca feels far more secure in the knowledge that she could, theoretically, run back to her apartment any time, night or day, if things get too intense. Giving up her apartment means she's making a solid commitment. It means she has nowhere to escape to and that's like a security blanket that keeps her from panicking. So she replies with a joke any time Chloe hintingly brings up the fact that she has drawers dedicated to her in the Beale household or any time Teddy innocently enquires why she doesn't just stay with them all the time.

Things change when she goes to the UK for a month. Work seems to really be picking up and it's not uncommon now for Beca to be asked for autographs and photographs from people she can legitimately class as fans. She's not hounded by the paparazzi at all hours and she's yet to encounter a crazed stalker (unless you count Chloe who refuses to leave Beca's shower if she's singing…Beca always sings in the shower) but she's definitely got a pretty serious following.

Enough of a following that she's asked to make a surprise guest appearance at a festival and to do some collaborations with a few UK artists while she's over there. The transition from a regular semi-popular DJ to a much beloved, up and coming artist is still bizarre to Beca. She sometimes sees people in the street wearing her t-shirts or general merchandise with her logo on and that is a very odd sensation. (Especially any time she pays Chloe a quick lunch time visit at her school and is met with the unrestrained gawping of adolescents who can't quite believe that bubbly Miss Beale is dating _the _Beca Mitchell).

Stacie, of course, has got the whole thing down to a fine art. She's practically made to be in the public eye and it's her guidance that keeps Beca from going too crazy…though she could really do without the daily updates about all the regular action Stacie's 'hunter' is getting these days. She coaches Beca on the best way to handle her time and warns her of the unexpected dangers jetlag can have on her performance if she's not careful. With every bit of advice Stacie gives her, Beca becomes increasingly impatient for this trip to happen.

It's all so very exciting and Chloe can't contain her enthusiasm when Beca tells her. Beca thinks she may be even more thrilled than she is, Chloe gets unbelievably proud of her in these moments and it's all Beca can do not to smile when she runs around telling everyone they know like a hyper child announcing their first visit from the tooth fairy. Teddy is not quite as understanding.

Teddy cries when Beca breaks the news. It takes some convincing to reassure him that this isn't like his friend whose family moved to Australia and never came back. Both Beca and Chloe have to work in tandem to get him to understand that Beca _is _going to return (a month is an awfully long time to someone who isn't even seven yet) but he eventually believes them.

There's an abundance of promises to make regular Skype calls and to bring back interesting presents while she's away to placate to two Beale's. There's certainly an increase in the level of neediness from the two of them in the days leading up to her departure. Beca can deal with it though…maybe she secretly enjoys it a little too, even if she does roll her eyes every time Chloe says they'll miss her.

The day comes and Beca leaves. She has an amazing time, does some fantastic work, sees a few sights, fangirls over several other artists and ultimately it's everything she's dreamed of. There's a niggling little voice in the back of her head. The one telling her how much Chloe would love the sunset from Waterloo Bridge, the one telling her how mental Teddy would go for the sweeter chocolate, the one telling her how Chloe would laugh at that joke Calvin Harris just made if she were here, the one telling her that Teddy would be getting out of school right about now. Yeah, everything is a whirlwind of new experiences and sights that Beca loves…but it's always there in her mind that things would just be that little bit better if Chloe and Teddy could be there to share the experience with.

On the flight back, she's exhausted. She won't be getting in until the early hours of the morning so she and Chloe had previously agreed (Beca had insisted) that Chloe needn't come pick her up from the airport given the time of Beca's arrival. She'll crash at her own place and come over at a more civil hour the next morning. Opening the door to the silent cleanliness of her apartment, Beca is of the opinion that this was a shit decision.

The place smells like a stale generic pine air freshener. Everything is exactly as she left it. She doesn't feel the need to swear violently because she's not just trodden on one of Teddy's Lego bricks for the millionth time and there's no sign of any other living being there. Beca hates it. Once upon a time this was her refuge. Now it's as familiar to her as one of the five different hotel rooms she'd stayed in over the past month. It's just a bunch of rooms. Beca sprawls in the cold, crisp sheets of her massive bed for about all of twenty minutes before she gives up on sleep and makes her way to Chloe and Teddy.

She slips her way into the house using the key Chloe had given her a while ago. She's immediately greeted by a scent she can't really define but that Beca inherently associates with Chloe and Teddy. Beca takes note of the rearranged furniture and knows Chloe has gone on another Feng Shui spree that's going to leave her confused about everything's whereabouts for the next month. As she makes her way across the room, she swears violently under her breath as her foot encounters one of Teddy's Lego bricks for the goddamn _millionth_ time but there's a "WELCOME HOME BECA" sign on one of the walls in brightly colored papers that makes her smile with its quintessential Bealeness.

She enters Chloe's room and isn't surprised to find that Teddy's found his way through as well and is curled up in his mother's arms. Despite Beca's best efforts, Chloe does stir as she settles herself on the bed. There's a warm, sleepy smile from her favorite red head and Beca gets a light kiss before Chloe snuggles into her, a still passed out Teddy sandwiched between them. The bed is cramped as anything and Beca knows she's not getting anywhere near the duvet considering she's not sharing with one, but two chronic duvet hoggers (like mother like son) but it's okay. It's more than okay. It's perfect. _This _is home.

The next day Beca stumbles out an awkward "so I've been thinking, um, would you like to be moved in with by me maybe?" which is met with a happy 'yes' from Chloe and Teddy. Teddy presents her with a bit of paper covered in an assortment of crayon colors which Teddy assures her are plans for turning the spare room into a music room so Beca can teach him to do all the things she does. Beca knows instantly that she has made the right decision.

* * *

><p>Beca gets caught in the steady rise and fall of her own chest, the puff of an exhaled breath and the delicate sound of rushing air as her lungs draw it back in. She is perfectly suspended in that semi-conscious state between waking and dreaming. She feels almost completely aware of every bit of her body sinking into the sofa, Teddy's own warmth present along her side and his heavy head using her stomach as a pillow.<p>

Despite the television aimlessly chattering away in the background, Beca can still hear the tell-tale creak of a floorboard having too much pressure on it as Chloe sneaks up on them. Whatever Chloe's plotting, Beca finds her eyelids are too heavy to open so she waits. Instead of a loud cry of 'boo!' or Chloe suddenly diving on top of them as Beca is expecting, she gets distinct click and the whir of a camera processing its latest work. Dragging herself back from the precipice of sleep, Beca cracks one eye open suspiciously to see Chloe shaking a Polaroid.

"What are you doing?" Chloe simply smiles in a coy way, peaking Beca's curiosity…but first there's an unconscious Teddy to deal with. Beca gives him a nudge. "Little man?" The most Beca gets out of him is a discontented twitch on his face at being disturbed.

She sits up, bringing him with her, yet there is still no sign of him waking. Unsurprisingly the poor little man is completely tuckered out after a day of lugging Beca's stuff into the house. Even when Chloe had to duck out to go attend a parent-teacher conference, he'd stayed by Beca's side as she set up her equipment, listening closely as she explained how this lead connected to that one.

It had taken all of five seconds for them to slump in front of the TV once they were finished. Beca put on a wildlife documentary and they'd collapsed into a weary pile together to wait for Chloe's return. (Obviously unsuccessfully given Beca can't remember keeping her eyes open past the introduction). Beca is surprisingly okay with all the nature programs Teddy likes to watch. She's actually pretty partial to them because nature doesn't possess the same banal predictability that movies do.

It's this wild, untamable thing which obstinately refuses to conform to any kind of real set pattern or logic. You never know when a seemingly helpless miniscule creature is going to come out with a highly unorthodox, and quite frankly ridiculous, defense mechanism that floors a predator five times its size. (Beca will deny it to the ends of the earth but she also gets a hell of a kick watching the baby pandas tumble all over each other like the cute little shits they are).

Teddy likes them because he never ceases to be fascinated by the creatures of the natural world. Sharks still hold the number one spot in his heart, but his interests have expanded to encompass all living beings. He likes to come out with random facts whenever the opportunity presents itself, whenever the opportunity kind of sort of vaguely makes an appearance and even when the opportunity doesn't actually exist at all. Leave a pause in the conversation too long and Teddy _will _fill it with an obscure animal fact, regardless of circumstance. Teddy continues to baffle his teachers at school by informing that a young arctic fox can walk up to sixty miles a day during scavenging season when they only want him to come and solve an equation on the board.

He sometimes doesn't get why his classmates aren't as infatuated with animal life as he is but he never lets that kill his enthusiasm. Beca goes out of her way to encourage it when she can, she doesn't want him to ever lose that thirst for the pursuit of knowledge in something he's interested in. That manic gleam of curiosity in his eye is hauntingly reminiscent of a feeling Beca encountered when she first got her hands on some music editing software. It's why she started watching nature documentaries with him, because this means something to him and that's important.

A gentle prod proves that Teddy's adamantly not going to wake up so Beca scoops him into her arms and makes her way upstairs to his room. She gives an amused shake of the head as she hears another whir and another click from Chloe taking a second picture. Once Teddy is all tucked in with a kiss to the forehead and a soft 'good night little man', Beca heads back downstairs to see Chloe carefully sliding the two pictures she's just taken into place in a photo album.

She hops over the back of the sofa where Chloe is seated and scooches in behind her, arms coming to wrap around Chloe's waist so Chloe can continue with what she's doing. Beca affectionately kisses the back of Chloe's neck before craning her head over Chloe's shoulder to get a better look. The album in Chloe's hands is filled with photos, Beca's surprised to see how many pictures Choe's managed to get of her without realizing. Chloe's always snapping away with her camera, she says they a good picture can capture the exact mood of a memory or moment in time.

Beca hadn't thought much on it until right now as she's watching Chloe's hands smooth over the many pages of photos there, each one bringing a flash of a day soaring into Beca's mind and making her smile. It helps that they're all meticulously labelled and chronologically ordered in a way that Aubrey would be proud of. Chloe eyes the straining book shelf where she keeps her other photo albums with pursed lips.

"Do you think we could clear some space on the next shelf? I'm going to need more room."

"I don't know if you've heard, but there's this magical box called a computer. You can put _all_ your pictures on it and they don't take up any space whatsoever." Beca teases in a sweet voice. She should have known Chloe wouldn't take that lying down.

"Oooh yeah, I've heard about those things, they also store music files apparently. We could save tons of space by getting rid of all your CDs and vinyls if you stored all your music on the computer instead." Beca's eyes bulge at the implication, not her precious music collection.

"I…you make a very valid point. We can make more room for your albums."

"That's what I thought." Chloe smiles smugly at her win before turning to run her fingers over a photo of a much younger Teddy gleefully displaying a gap toothed grin. "It's like you always say with your CDs. There's something about the tangibility. It's not the same when it's up there on the computer. Plus…it's something my mom does. She's got heaps of photo albums right from when she was a teenager. Sometimes I like to sit and flip through them when I visit. You can trace her entire life through those photos, you can see my family grow. I love the idea that one day our…that Teddy will sit and flip through these, get the opportunity to see you joining us when time makes childhood memories blurry."

Beca expects to feel a rigid flash of panic at the implications of Chloe's unfinished sentence…yet she doesn't. There's an unspoken thought of permanence in the air that should be sending Beca running for the hills, that should be terrifying her…but her only instinct is to hold on to Chloe a little bit tighter. At the movement, Chloe leans her head back to join their lips, her hand cradling the back of Beca's neck. Just as Beca is really beginning to sink into this kiss, to appreciate how right Chloe's tongue feels in her mouth, she hears the whirring click of the camera once more.

"Seriously Chlo?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks to the following for reviewing and to all those who have favouritedfollowed:**_

_**Kendricksnowhuh (For a dead person, your typing skills are exceptional)**_

_**OTAKU YUMIKURI**_

_**EdrickSnowhuh**_

_**Lelylith**_

_**Dracossack**_

_**Ballpointmf**_

_**Reda V**_

_**Guest**_

_**Llvr**_

_**Thalmor**_

_**SianSophieLove**_

_**SMILE. Bee. Happpy**_

_**Guest**_

_**Guest (For your sake, I really recommend you don't, I'm all kinds of germy and ill right now)**_

_**Guest**_

_**Defying-gravy**_

_**Guest**_

_**Snowflake14 (Muchas gracias. Estoy feliz de que te guste. Lo siento, no hablo español bien.)**_

_**Fitnessis (Yup, several chapters yet :) **__**)**_

_**50 Shades of Pitch Perfect**_

_**Biggiewoods**_


	6. A Growing Of Self

A Growing Of Self

Teddy is halfway through his seventh year of life when Beca stares at the grotty ceiling of a cheap motel and wonders how on earth she could have screwed something so perfect up so badly. It's well within her financial bounds to be living it up in a penthouse suite somewhere right now but this dank room with its mould covered walls seems more fitting to her. The weird smell and sticky carpet seem like a small consequence in the face of her actions and they're all she feels worthy of. It also has the added advantage of being somewhere she cannot be found. It wouldn't even cross her manager's mind to check a cheap roadside motel for the great Beca Mitchell.

How did she not notice? How did she not see things slipping? Had she known the path she set herself on would lead here, she never would have taken it. Teddy…she hasn't seen his cheeky little face in two weeks now, she hasn't spent time with him properly in far longer…and Chloe…her last image of Chloe is tear filled eyes that yank harshly at the seams of her heart, ripping a little deeper into her with every mental flash back of Chloe's hurt. The hurt she had caused…

Her dream has slowly become a toxic thing that pollutes every part of her life until there is nothing left. Music no longer gives her hope. Everything she does is simply a bland rehash of something that has already gone before. How can she possibly be inspired without the people in her life who act as never ending muses simply by being themselves? They fill her thoughts with an infinity of music that transform the world around her into a waterfall of beautiful notes. Each track is a story, each chord captures moment in time. Now their absence has reduced her life to an unenthused grey of monotonous bass lines that add no real value to the music.

Beca can't even find it in her to feel darkened or embittered the way she had when her dad left. That requires too much by way of emotion and Beca is honestly spent in that department. She is tired. So very very tired. Too tired to feel anything anymore. She'd thought her agents would stop once she gave them everything. Once she'd fully dedicated herself to this role they'd picked out for her…but they haven't. Even now they continue to snatch at pieces of her until there is nothing left.

The change crept up on her, so maliciously subtle that Beca didn't realize how bad things had gotten until she was watching her entire life crumble down around her. When her work load first began increasing, Chloe had been relentlessly understanding. Beca had actually felt _good_ about it, the late hours and ceaseless demands were easy to bear when she could come back to the soothing run of Chloe's fingers through her hair. She felt important with everyone coming to her, everyone gushing about her miracle touch that was the only thing that could possibly make this track better.

Interviews, collaborations, photo shoots. Everyone wanted a piece of the next new thing and Beca had given it to them. Phrases like 'the saviour of music' were thrown about, infecting Beca's brain with a sense of self importance. Suddenly Teddy's soccer game wasn't as important as finishing this bit of work. Suddenly date night with Chloe could wait while she prepared to drop the next greatest hit.

Stacie had been the first to suggest perhaps she was allowing work to take over her life. Jesse was next to mention that Teddy was becoming a little withdrawn lately and that Beca may want to spend more time with him. Even Luke who had shared her dreams for the longest time now began to cast her worrying glances every time he entered the studio to see Beca already there.

She'd brushed off all these concerns with assurances that she would make time later, right now the label needed her. Chloe had been a saint, constantly allowing Beca to put her second with promises that the mania would die off soon enough, she just needed to secure her place in the spotlight…but she secured her place in the spotlight and things didn't die off. They got _worse._

Beca hadn't cared. This was her dream, the goal, what she's been striving for for so long…right? And when Chloe had sat her down to have a frank discussion about Beca's constant decision to prioritize work over her and Teddy…Beca felt threatened. It's never good when Beca feels threatened.

She reacts purely on instinct, seeking to cause optimum damage to whatever is threatening her before she runs. In this case she does something incredibly stupid, namely accusing Chloe of seeking to hold her back and making claims that she and Teddy are only standing in her way at this point. Even as she's ranting on about how they can't possibly contend with the realization of her dream, she can feel every bit of pain she's causing Chloe reflected back in to her because she hurts when Chloe is hurting…but she cannot stop. Instead that additional pain only adds to her viciousness because she just wants to feel okay again.

These days she only ever feels scraped raw with all the burdens on her time and when Chloe bluntly tells her that she needs to spend more time at home instead of simply providing Beca with that chilled out environment she has come to expect from the redhead…Beca snaps. She takes it all out on the person she loves until Chloe is saying she should just leave if she feels so trapped…and Beca does exactly that. She leaves and puts in all the extra hours her agents wanted her to. She forgets what the outside world looks like, she allows the days to blur past her and she goes back to a nasty hotel room each night to mute her screams of anguish into a stained pillow.

She'd become so obsessed with this goal for so long. So fixated on attaining and preserving everything she now has. It has been her stars and her moon, the guiding force, the drive behind everything she does. It's seen her through her dad leaving and her shitty high school years. No matter what was going on in her life, it was okay because she was going to become a world-renowned DJ and everything else would be left in the dust.

What is now her reality has been her dream for many years…it's only once she has it that she realizes this hasn't really been her dream for a while. It's Chloe and Teddy. It's been Chloe and Teddy since she first met them. It's them she thinks about last thing at night before she goes to sleep and first thing when she wakes in the morning. It's them who fill her days with purpose and are the constant presence is the back of her mind as she makes her way through the day.

Needing to be anywhere but in this squalid room any more, Beca mooches out in to the night. The sky has opened with the type of rain that sinks heavily in to your clothes and soaks you to your core within seconds. Big fat droplets splash down on to her until Beca can feel little rivulets of water streaming down her body even beneath her layers of clothing. She has always liked the rain and right now it feels cleansing as she wanders aimlessly through the night, the cold deluge numbing her skin the way her own emotions have been numbed by her selfish greed.

While it dulls her bodily senses, it focuses her mind, allows her to finally pierce through that hazy fog she's been lost in for so long now and see what she so clearly needs. It's only when she sees the light pouring from familiar windows on her body that she recognizes where her feet have carried her. It's where they always carry her when the weight of everything becomes too much to bear. They carry her back home.

The window acts as a portal in to the place where Beca should be, where she would still be if she had used one iota of common sense to recognize the poisonous way the fame has been using her, slowly turning her into someone she never wanted to be. She sees Chloe pass by, bustling about in preparation for the next day. She looks more tired than normal, more worn down by life and Beca knows a large part of that is to do with her.

She contemplates leaving…permanently.

It would be easier on Chloe and the little man, easier without her there to neglect and abuse their good natures. She should have known that, ultimately, she would just cause these two outstanding people pain.

Then Chloe goes to draw the curtains and spots Beca standing there in the downpour. Their eyes lock and Beca realizes everything she has just thought is utter bullshit. She needs Chloe. Chloe needs her. It's written all over Chloe's face the second their eyes connect. They are two halves of a whole and leaving would only have them constantly seeking out the part of them that is no longer there.

If this were one of Jesse's movies then Chloe would have already flung the door open and they'd be embracing in the rain Ally and Noah style while a huge dramatic score plays. It's not though. A kiss would be great right now but in the long run it wouldn't solve anything. They have to talk about this. Beca can feel Chloe's eyes on her as she makes her way up to the house and shelters herself from rumbling clouds under the porch roof. Seating herself on the steps there, she looks patiently out in to the night, waiting for Chloe to make an appearance.

It takes about half an hour. That's less than Beca was expecting if she's honest. Chloe likes to take the time to work through her emotions and put them in proper order so she can tackle whatever is causing her upset in a steady emotional state without becoming overwhelmed, either by anger or sadness. When Chloe does eventually come out and seat herself next to Beca, Beca knows it's because she's ready to hear what Beca has to say in a civilized manner.

There's quiet for a little while as Beca attempts to process all the things she wants to say. All the many ways she wants to make this right. She struggles initially. Her mouth opens to begin but the words catch in her throat where they stick, heavy and unspoken. For everything that's happened, everything Beca has done, there is a justification she could give. Reasons why she acted the way she did…but Beca recognizes those aren't the words she needs to say. They would merely be an excuse that shifts the blame on to external forces. Trying to defend her actions is not what this is about. In the end, it all comes down to two words.

"I'm sorry." Chloe looks at her as the words ring out clear against the thundering back drop of rain all around them. "I…it's all that I can say really. I'm just so sorry Chlo. If I could take it all back then I swear I would but I can't and I'm just so fucking sorry." Beca can't make it any further before her voice cracks and the tears physically stop her from speaking. Chloe wraps an arm around her and tugs lightly, pulling her into her side. Her hands gently rub at Beca's back while Beca cries long cathartic tears into Chloe's midriff. It's not dignified at all, her face is screwed up in to a squishy mess and she's pretty sure she's snotting all over Chloe...but Chloe doesn't once make a move to let go.

She holds on tight to a very soggy Beca while Beca allows the familiar warmth of Chloe to seep in through her damp clothing. It's like shivering beneath too few layers on a sharp November night until you go sit next to the fire. You feel the heat first as an outside force dancing on the surface of your skin…then it slowly works its way in. It oozes in to your body with the inevitability of warm treacle, all the way down to your bones where you feel it take hold. Chloe is in every part of Beca and Beca has never felt more complete.

When Beca has cried her last tear, Chloe rights her and wipes the wetness from Beca's face. The concern and the love is still there on Chloe's face. It's the reassurance Beca needs to ask what's on her mind.

"Can I come home?" she says in a small voice. Chloe opens her mouth on instinct to answer…but pauses. When her reply does come, it's with a sadness in her eyes that Beca wishes with all her heart to vanquish.

"…Beca…you've reached the conclusion that your behavior has been wrong on your own terms and you've apologized for that. If there was just me to think about then we wouldn't even be having this conversation, we'd already be inside…but my son is in there. He thinks the absolute world of you and it's been breaking him every night you haven't been home. I don't think I need to tell you what that feels like. I want you Beca, I want you in my life so badly I sometimes feel I can't breathe without you there…but my son comes first. You've run once, and that's something we can work past, we all make mistakes, but I _need_ to know that this won't happen again. No matter how bad things get, no matter how strong your urge is to leave…you have to stay. You have to stay and try and figure it out with me because my son loves you and I won't have you up and leave any time a serious issue arises. If there is any chance, any at all that this could happen again…I can't let you back in there. Do you understand? I won't have Teddy be torn down every time you decide this is all too real for you, it'd be better for us to end things now."

For all the strength and finality of her words, Chloe's hand comes up to the corner of her eye to brush away a tear as she offers Beca this choice. Beca recognizes this isn't a light decision, this is her promising to stay when everything in her is screaming to run. Looking into Chloe's eyes, she knows it's a promise she can make.

"I'm not going to Chloe. I'm not going _anywhere._ I'm here for as long as you'll have me. This is where I'm supposed to be. I know that now."

"And you understand that things aren't going to magically jump back to normal? We're going to have to work at it."

"Yes, whatever it takes."

"That means work comes second while we fix this."

"Of course."

"And this isn't a temporary thing; you can't just devote yourself to us until things are better, then go straight back to behaving like before."

"I wouldn't. I know I fucked up but I'm here now to make it right. I'm here Chlo and I'm not going."

"Good." Chloe sighs as she speaks this single syllable. Her shoulders sort of…lower slightly, as if they have been held in a tense position for far too long and it's only now they can uncoil the rigidity that has been securing them in to place. Chloe leans forward to meet Beca and they sit there, foreheads pressed against one another as they savor each other's presence.

"I thought about it you know…leaving. I thought it might be better for you and Teddy…" Beca finds herself whispering after a time.

"You would have broken my heart." Six simple words delivered quite casually and quietly…but it is this that lets Beca know how devastating her departure would be to Chloe. Chloe likes to hype about things, to draw out every positive aspect she can with an equally positive word. So little by way of wording reveals how desolate Chloe would find a world without Beca. Not dissimilar to how desolate Beca herself has found life these past couple of weeks. To think that she even considered putting Chloe through that hurts. Beca's resolve make this right strengthens in to an iron forged oath right at the center of her being because she never wants to hear that heart shattering tone of voice come from Chloe again.

Chloe lightly kisses Beca to confirm that Beca really is there, then she stands and leads them both inside. Together they strip off their wet clothing and Chloe produces towels to help them dry each other. Despite their naked states, there is nothing sexual about this moment. They're not ready for that. This is purely a comfort thing to reacquaint themselves. Once Beca is re-clothed in the dry warmth of her pajamas, they just hold each other for a while. Beca doesn't want the moment to end but Chloe pulls back, biting at her lip uncertainly and gestures to Teddy's room.

"I think you should go see Teddy."

"Isn't he asleep already? I wouldn't want to wake him." Chloe pauses before meeting Beca's eyes.

"He needs to see you Beca. He needs to see that you're back. He feels abandoned right now and the sooner you end that feeling for him, the better. To be honest, he's been having a lot of nightmares since you left, there's a good chance he's not even asleep."

Beca swallows at the news. Without waiting, she gently creaks the door open into Teddy's room. His back is facing the door but Beca hears him mutter.

"Leave me alone." He rolls over to say something else as Beca sits on the mattress but the words die in his throat as Beca smiles down at him.

"Hey little man." Wordlessly, he launches himself out of the covers and wraps his arms tightly around Beca's neck. She hugs his tiny little body to her own and feels hers eyes begin to water once more with the unconditional love he gives. This is where she needs to be, she wonders how she ever could have ever thought it was anywhere else.

"Are you staying?"

"Yeah little man, I'm staying."

* * *

><p>Beca sleeps easy with Chloe in her arms that night. When Teddy wakes in the morning (unusually early for someone who grumps about leaving his bed before noon most days), he fears that the events of the night before are merely a dream and comes to their room to double check. Upon realizing that they aren't, Teddy startles them both by jumping on the bed and yelling something about pancakes to celebrate….not caring for the fact that it's only five in the morning.<p>

Under any other circumstances, Beca may have complained or told Teddy to go back to bed and wake her at a more reasonable hour. As it is, she just feels ecstatic. Chloe shares the sentiment and even demonstrates a rare willingness to remove herself from the bed without the harsh blaring of several alarms to motivate her. At five in the morning they lope into the kitchen together to eat pancakes in shared happiness. Teddy is bouncing off the walls with a level of hyper that leads Beca to wonder if he's been eating raw coffee beans again but…whatever. She doesn't care. She's home.

It doesn't snap back to perfection straight away. Beca's career takes a bit of a hit as she holds off on music and drops out of the public eye. She uses her time instead to systematically deconstruct her entire support system and rebuilds it from the ground up with people who actually have a modicum of decency about them. She had worried that she'd lose Luke over the whole thing when she announced her intentions, he's an ambitious guy and she essentially wants to dismantle the entire company they built together…but he agrees to the changes.

He actually gets remarkably affronted when Beca suggests she thought he might ditch her for a better deal elsewhere…she's always thought of him more as a business partner than anything else but he attests to their friendship and sticks by her as they remake the label together. It's a laborious, time consuming process but one that pays back dividends in the effect it has on Beca's life. Beca knows a large part of that is to do with Michelle Bladen.

After copious amounts of stress trawling through endless agents to find one who won't simply look at Beca from a work vantage point but who will actually take her personal life into consideration, Beca finds Michelle….well, technically speaking, Chloe does. Upon first interview, Beca dismisses Michelle based on her abrupt manner that Beca finds somewhat disconcerting. Chloe fishes her out of the reject pile though and encourages Beca to bring Michelle back for a trial run, she can't put her finger on it when Beca asks but Chloe just says she has a feeling about this one. Beca puts faith in Chloe's gut and hires Michelle any way which is a really fucking good move because it turns out Michelle Bladen is the physical, living embodiment of efficiency.

She's the kind of person never seen out of a perfectly pressed business suit and she haggles with a clean, no nonsense precision that leaves her opposition slightly stunned for a minimum three days after any encounter. She has sharp features and cunning dark eyes that are always looking for a new opportunity to further Beca's career without impinging on her home time. She effortlessly juggles three mobiles and two PDAs at any one time while steadily steering Beca through all her appointments (naturally Aubrey and Michelle get on like a house on fire. Beca's overheard them comparing the best way to schedule one's day on at least a dozen different occasions).

Basically, the woman is an absolute god send and, despite Beca's initial misgivings about her constant faintly cold demeanor, Beca discovers that Michelle is actually a quietly caring individual who will verbally tear anyone to shreds if they attempt to bully Beca into doing anything she doesn't want to do. (She's also got a wickedly vicious sarcastic streak that has Beca snorting with delight anytime she uses it to render someone speechless). It helps a lot to have someone there who can accurately calculate just how important a deal is, making it easy to know which ones Beca can turn down so she can spend more time at home.

Chloe also signs them up to couples counselling which Beca is less than fond of but she tries. There's a lot of talk about _feelings _and _emotions _that tests her patience to the very limit. As someone who struggles to understand her own emotions half the time, how can she possibly be expected to convey them to someone else? The second she thinks about giving up though, her mind jumps back to that feeling of lying alone in a bed and the utter hopelessness for life that comes with it. It motivates her, gives her the strength to push on until counselling doesn't seem so bad any more. Beca throws herself in to it fully because she wants to do better, she wants to _be_ better…and it works. They resolve issues of communication that Beca hadn't even recognized were contributing factors to her departure.

She'd labelled work as the single cause for their troubles but the truth is rarely so simple. She learns to be more communicative about her feelings rather than just assuming that Chloe innately understands every thought going through her head. Chloe works on being more open about what she needs from Beca instead of just dropping what she thinks are obvious hints and hoping that Beca will magically pick up on them. There are a few concerns they need to work on but they tackle them all together.

They strengthen.

They learn.

They grow.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks to the following for reviewing and to all those who have favouritedfollowed:**_

_**Doccubushuh**_

_**dullLogic**_

_**Electronis Zappa (Aaaah, the Kinks rule. You, good sir/lady/magical unicorn of Narnia [please delete as appropriate], are awesome. Thank you very much :D)**_

_**Ballpointmf**_

_**Llvr (Don't speak to soon dearie)**_

_**OTAKU YUMIKURI**_

_**Thalmor**_

_**EdrickSnowhuh**_

_**50 Shades of Pitch Perfect**_

_**Awriterofthings**_

_**Lelylith**_

_**Xbechloex**_

_**Jada. T (What if I'm in Slytherin huh?)**_

_**Guest**_


	7. A Noteworthy Evening

_**Sorry for the delay on this chapter. You'd think finishing up work and heading back to the parental home for Christmas would make life less hectic wouldn't you? Then again, I don't think my family can be described as anything less than hectic under the best circumstances. Anyways, onwards.**_

* * *

><p><span>A Noteworthy Evening<span>

Teddy a couple of months into his eighth year of life when Beca comes home to a surprising sight. She and Chloe have been together long enough now that pizza, trackies and cuddling up together with a good book is way more their speed than unexpected bursts of romance. They've reached that level of domesticity that doesn't demand declarations of love with big gestures because she and Chloe know each other with everything they are. Their love is a state of being rather than a series of physical demonstrations. Yeah, there's anniversaries and birthdays etc and the occasional sporadic displays of affection when one of them is feeling particularly romantic or happy with life…but what Beca is seeing right now is a whole other level.

The house has been cleaned to within an inch of its life, there's gentle music playing in the background (Beca recognizes a piano cover she did of Titanium for Chloe a while back), the mouth-watering smell of Beca's favorite meal is in the air and the place is illuminated by an abundance of candles instead of electricity. Beca can even spy the table laid with the fancy crockery Chloe once yelled at her for using before proceeding to outline that this crockery was only to be used in the event of the Obamas appearing for dinner or something of equal importance. Then there's Chloe. At this point Beca has seen a variety of different Chloe's.

There's every day Chloe who has an effortless beauty that still causes Beca to stare in wonder.

There's post-work out Chloe who can be a little red and a little sweaty but Beca kind of likes that.

There's the wrapped up in a duvet 'oh my god, I'm so hungover and/or ill right now, come near me and I will probably throw up on you' Chloe who Beca just finds adorable.

There's the jaw droppingly sexy 'yes, these stilettos _are _the only thing I'm wearing' Chloe who Beca can't think about too much without drooling a bit.

Overall Chloe's got a multitude of looks that Beca loves…but the one she's got going for her now? Damn…

It's nothing overly special in truth but that's what makes it so incredible. A dress that drapes over perfectly over her flawless frame, a light touch of make-up and her hair falling in such soft waves that Beca already aches to reach out and run her fingers through them. She is _gorgeous._ Then there's her smile, Chloe is wearing a smile that Beca likes to think is reserved especially for her and Teddy.

Chloe is truly beautiful, inside and out. It shows when she smiles that particular smile, it's like all her goodness comes pouring out at once and it's not a matter of perfectly assembled facial features. It's that essence of decency and kindness that radiates from her, making her more beautiful in Beca's eyes than anyone else in the entire world. It makes Chloe _glow _and every time she sees it, Beca gets this hitch in her breathing as she wonders how she got so damn lucky.

"I…what?" Beca's is aware her level of eloquence is sub-par but Chloe merely wanders over and gives her a kiss that lingers a bit longer than normal. Beca's hands instinctively travel to her waist and, at this point, she begins to feel hideously under dressed for whatever Chloe's got going on but she can't think about that too long because Chloe's fingers settle in her hair playing lightly with the strands at the nape of her neck in a way that drives Beca crazy. It takes a moment for Beca's eyes to flutter back open once she's finished savoring the moment but she's not sorry because now she's looking into Chloe's eyes and seeing the love she feels reflecting back to her.

"I thought we could have an evening for us…Teddy's having a sleepover with Nora at Jesse's…I've spoken to Michelle and she's going to clear your schedule tomorrow meaning you don't have to worry about being up early. We can just relax and have tonight for us…" Chloe whispers. Beca can feel her breath on her lips, it's so tempting that she dives in for another taste but her confusion is still present when Chloe eventually separates them and pulls Beca to the table where she hands Beca a glass of champagne. "To us?"

Chloe lifts her own glass in a toast to which Beca complies before becoming startled by the bottle. Beca is no connoisseur of fine champagnes but she remembers blanching at the price Chloe paid for it when they went to that French market (they could easily afford it but the idea of anyone ever spending that much money of a single bottle seemed completely crazy to Beca).

"Chloe? I…this is a nice champagne…a _really _nice champagne. You know, the kind for celebrating something really big? I thought you said you were saving this for a special occasion?"

"It is a special occasion silly." And now Beca begins to panic. What has she forgotten? What in the actual fuck has she forgotten? It's not their anniversary, that was three months ago. It's not Chloe's birthday, that's not for a couple of months yet, that's for certain. More than once she's celebrated the gap between the two allowing her time to think through each occasion so it can't be either. Not something to do with Teddy either, he would be here for that. Fuck. What else is there? She's going to have to ask.

"Um…what occasion would that be?" Beca asks timidly, wincing in anticipation of the oncoming rant of disappointment of her forgetfulness from Chloe. What she is _not _expecting is the sheepish look she gets instead.

"You have to promise not to be mad okay?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Beca sets down her glass and allows her hands to palm Chloe's hips, the desire to touch Chloe never really leaving her. Chloe puts her own down and takes a deep breath.

"I know I don't usually go in your studio because you like everything a certain way and I sometimes reset things without meaning to but…well, a week ago I was looking for my car keys and I couldn't find them _anywhere _so I decided to check the studio just in case and while I was looking, I found something else." Beca's face is still a mass of bewilderment until the penny drops. She freezes completely as all the pieces fall into place. Only her eyes move as Chloe's hands reach for a small box she hadn't noticed on the table. The same box that had been sitting in Beca's desk drawer for about two months now, waiting for its moment. Beca can feel her mouth opening and closing as she tries to formulate words.

"Did…did you just hijack my proposal?"

"Um…sort of?" Beca raises an eyebrow at Chloe's blatant fudging of the truth. "You were taking ages, okay? I got impatient…" Chloe whines, like arranging your own proposal is a perfectly normal thing to do.

"I thought you said you only found it a week ago?" Beca questions. She can see it spark a curiosity in Chloe about the length of time Beca had it in her possession. If Chloe got impatient after a week…

"Beca…exactly how long have you had this ring?" Chloe's eyes narrow.

"Like…a month or two…ish?"

"Two months?! You've made me wait two months?!"

"It had to be perfect Chlo! You deserve something so beyond extraordinary because that's what you are!" Beca exclaims. "I had all these plans, all these wonderful, awesome plans but none of them seemed good enough. None of them were right and after a while…I let things slip because I couldn't find anything that measures up to the occasion I know you deserve. I thought it would be simple once I found the right ring but…well…it turns out proposing is _hard. _Nothing ever seemed to be good enough."

"And this? What about this?" Chloe gestures around the room nervously, Beca surveys all she has done and smiles.

"This…this is right. This is us. Not too complicated. I know I can over think things but…just you and me. It's perfect Chlo…how do you always know what I want to do better than I know myself?"

"I'll have you know that I specialize in all things Beca Mitchell." Chloe smirks smugly.

"Oh do you now?" Beca smirks back.

"Uh-huh."

"And tell me Miss Beale, what does Beca Mitchell do now?" It's here that Chloe's cocky tone falters and the mood acquires a serious edge once more as Chloe's hushed voice betrays the trepidation she still feels even with all the preparation both parties have put into this.

"She could always give actually proposing a go? You know…if she wants to…"

"Eager are we?" Beca chuckles and Chloe gives a little 'whatchya gonna do?' shrug that fills Beca with endless adoration. She picks the box up from the table and stares at it for a moment before beginning. "Chloe Beale, I….I…dammit, I was going to plan out this whole speech thing and it was going to be awesome and you were going to feel so special…" Beca curses herself. This is not going well. Panic begins to seep in until gentle hands lift her face so she is staring into the calming ocean of blue.

"It's okay Beca." Chloe soothes, thumbs rubbing gentle strokes along her temples.

"But I made notes and everything…" Beca's voice peters out as Chloe's bemused smile unhinges her.

"Beca, there is nothing you could say right now that will make me say no_._" Beca closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. That is considerably reassuring. A memory from childhood storms its way into her head as Chloe's fingers dance across her skin and in an instant she knows what to say.

"There was one thing my dad always used to do when I was a kid. He thought finding out where words came from was really interesting. Every now and then he'd find one he really liked, he'd sit me down and he'd lecture me on it. God, it used to bore the shit out of me."

Chloe raises an eyebrow at this random piece of trivia.

"I am going somewhere with this, I promise. Anyway, I guess a couple of them stuck because there's one that always come to mind when I think of you and Teddy. Dénouement. In English it's just used as a literary term, something to signify the conclusion of a plot or a novel …but the original French meaning is a little vaguer than that. It's any kind of unravelling or resolution. It can apply to emotions too and that is about as close as I can get to describing the feeling you and Teddy give me. Everything in my life was this big condensed ball of problems that I shoved away and ignored rather than dealing with it. Then you appeared and all of it unravelled. It unknotted until the every single complication of my life fell away. I actually feel physically lighter when you're around because there's no problem I can't tackle with you by my side to help break it down. Even just now you made something I've been stressing about for months seem so simple and easy. I will happily take on all the problems life throws at me as long as I can do it with you. Chlo, will you marry me?"

Chloe's lips smash into Beca's and talking takes a backseat for a while as they enjoy the taste of each other. Beca's lungs are heaving as they finally pull apart and yet she still desires more. It's an intoxicating spell Chloe Beale has over her, one that can drug her with the simplest look.

"Just to check, that's a yes right?" Beca kind of wants to hit herself for killing a beautiful moment with a lame joke but Chloe rolls her eyes endearingly and slides the ring onto her finger.

"Of course it's a yes you idiot." Beca smiles at the sight. The ring looks better on Chloe than she ever could have imagined. It's visible proof that Chloe promises to love her until her last day on this earth. Beca gets the feeling she's never going to get tired of seeing the ring on Chloe. With emotions running high and a mutual feeling of love filling the air, it doesn't take much for the two of them end up wrapped around each other once more. Beca can't stop her hands from running everywhere as she memorizes each curve just a little bit more than the time before. The overwhelming urge to make love to her fiancée hits her and it's not long before her fingers drift downwards to pull up at the bottom of Chloe's dress.

She almost makes it all the way up to where she so critically needs to be before Chloe's hands lightly stop her own and the red head is pulling back with a satisfied moan. Beca can still feel that light brush of lace against her finger tips that Chloe is now denying her, this seems cruel and unusual punishment.

"Mmm, none of that." Chloe gleefully bites her lip and a very turned on Beca is confused as to why Chloe isn't wanting to be more naked right now. Chloe is always wanting to be more naked. Beca would very much like Chloe to be naked.

"Huh?"

"I spent ages cooking this meal. I'm not letting it go to waste." Chloe says, turning Beca by the shoulders and steering her to a seat at the table. Beca nearly whines with frustration but somehow manages to form words.

"But-"

"Nope. Sit. Eat." …not that her one word manages to do much against Chloe's will power. She pushes down on Beca's shoulders and seats herself on the other side of the table while Beca stares desperately at how good Chloe looks right now.

"But-"

"Beca. Trust me. You're going to need the energy for later. I hope you weren't intending on getting any sleep tonight. I've got some very interesting plans that I think you're going to like." Beca stares open mouthed at Chloe who has just finished giving her a long, appreciative look that honestly nearly floors Beca because dammit if Chloe isn't a real life fantasy that's sexier than anything her pitifully poor imagination could have come up with. Chloe has a habit of doing things like that and Beca can't cope sometimes.

She dutifully picks up her fork and begins eating the, admittedly very delicious, meal but her eyes do not leave Chloe for its duration. They make promises of a night of passion that Beca more than lives up to.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks to the following for reviewing and to all those who have followedfavourite:**_

_**Luke 923 HA**_

_**Reda V**_

_**Guest**_

_**Sonluver19**_

_**Electronis Zappa**_

_**Remix-this**_

_**Kinqslanding**_

_**Thalmor**_

_**Ballpointmf**_

_**50 Shades of Pitch Perfect**_

_**Guest**_

_**Jada. T**_

_**Normal-is-Overratedx**_

_**Llvr**_

_**Guest**_

_**Lelylith**_


End file.
